2of 2Abortion rights supporters Bill Lambert of Houston and Amelie Hahn of Jackson, Mississippi, work on signs outside the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, Sept. 12, 2014, before a hearing about whether Texas should be able to enforce new restrictions on abortions during its appeal of a ruling that they're unconstitutional. Sandy Jones of Houston stands on the sidewalk and Michelle Colon of Jackson on the steps. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)Photo: Janet McConnaughey, STF / AP

AUSTIN — Attorneys for the state of Texas defended a law restricting the most common second-trimester abortion procedure Monday with testimony from a doctor who described it as a “brutal procedure in which a living human being is torn to pieces.”

Earlier this year, the Republican-led Legislature passed Senate Bill 8, a set of comprehensive abortion regulations that banned dilation and evacuation — a medical procedure used to remove a fetus using surgical tools — unless the fetus is deceased. It is the most common method used to perform an abortion in the second trimester.

During a dilation and evacuation procedure, doctors use surgical instruments to remove the fetus. Proponents of the law say the method is inhumane, often referring to it as “dismemberment abortion.”

Whole Woman’s Health, Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers sued the state because they believe it will further limit access to abortion.

In the third day of the trial before U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel, the state’s attorneys began presenting testimony that the dilation and evacuation procedure is inhumane, and causing fetal demise before the procedure is safe and effective. Many of the state’s witnesses self-identified as anti-abortion proponents.

Dr. Anthony Levatino, a former OB-GYN, said he performed hundreds of dilation and evacuation procedures between 1980 and 1985, but stopped after his adopted daughter died from a car accident when she was 6 years old.

Levatino performed a dilation and evacuation procedure, months after his daughter’s death. As he set the fetal tissue aside, he said he became “sick.” For the first time, he said, he looked at the “pile of body parts,” and all he could see was someone’s child.

“That’s what started a cascade, which over the next few months, ended in not doing any more abortions,” Levatino said.

Levatino has not performed any abortions in more than 30 years and is a vocal anti-abortion proponent. He did not provide any testimony in court Monday as to safety or effectiveness of causing fetal demise before an abortion.

In court records, the state has argued that the methods used to cause fetal demise are not complicated procedures for most abortion providers.

Dr. David Berry, a maternal-fetal specialist, said he has used an injection of potassium chloride to cause fetal demise before performing an abortion, and it has always been successful in killing the fetus.

But lawyers for the abortion providers argue maternal-fetal specialists receive more in-depth training in fetal injections than most abortion providers, meaning if SB 8 goes into effective, most providers would need additional training.

Texas abortion providers also argued in court last week that the methods used to kill a fetus have not been adequately studied and are not medically necessary.

The providers also believe the procedures will further limit access to abortion, especially to low-income populations, because it will increase the length of time it takes to undergo the procedure.

Under SB 8, doctors would face criminal charges for violating the ban, except in a case of a medical emergency. The law was set to go into effect Sept. 1, but Yeakel blocked its implementation with a temporary restraining order which remains in effect.

The trial is expected to last until Wednesday, with a decision from Yeakel expected by the end of the month.